* First-half pretax loss 139 million euros
* No y/y comparative figs due to Kommunalkredit stake sale
* Still expects full-year net loss
* Real economy woes, bad loans hit results
VIENNA, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Austria's cooperative banking group Oesterreichische Volksbanken AG reported first-half pretax loss of 139 million euro ($198 million) as bad loan provisions took their toll.
Volksbanken, Austria's No.4 lender, had no clear year-on-year comparative figures available due to the sale last year of its stake in ailing Kommunalkredit, which was nationalized to prevent a looming collapse.
The company, which got a 1 billion euro capital injection from the Austrian government this year, reiterated that it expected a full-year loss and that the outlook would also be tough for its peers.
"The financial sector should, to a certain extent, expect substantial losses in the full year 2009 and also in 2010," the company said in a statement.
Bad loan provisions soared to 294 million euros in the first half, Volksbanken said. It did not give a figure for its first half net loss
On July 24, Moody's downgraded Volksbanken's credit ratings sharply, to Baa1 from Aa3. The bank had said earlier in the year that it could not pay dividends and coupons on certain securities, including on the state capital.
Regional Austrian cooperative banks own 58 percent of Volksbanken. German cooperative group DZ Bank owns 25 percent, a unit of reinsurer Munich Re 10 percent, and another Austrian cooperative bank, RZB, the rest. (Reporting by Sylvia Westall; editing by Karen Foster)